Jason Todd: Batman
by Agent Brad Hall
Summary: Bruce Wayne is dead. There's no ifs or buts about it. But Batman won't die. He can't, or else Gotham will die along with him. Everyone expects Dick to take his place, but Bruce has stated in his will for Jason to become the new Batman. Since then, Jason has sworn off killing, trying to keep the legacy intact. That is, until the Joker escapes from Arkham again.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 _Hi, I'm Agent Brad Hall. What am I the agent of? Who knows. That's not important._

 _What's important is this story. Here, I'll explain the continuity a little bit. If you don't feel like reading this, you can skip all this and go straight to the story. It should be pretty easy to follow._

 _This story mostly follows New 52 continuity. I know I know, a lot of people don't like New 52 and that's okay. But the character designs are New 52. Pre-DC You costumes. I hate the new Red Hood costume, so he's in his Red Hood And The Outlaws costume. Barbara Gordon is still in her black armor costume from the beginning of New 52 and is Batgirl._

 _One big difference between New 52 continuity and this continuity is that Batman has been active more than five years. Bruce has been Batman for at least ten. He started in his early twenties, and now he's in his mid-early thirties. Also, Dick Grayson is currently Nightwing._

 _This is in the same universe as my story Red Hood: Requiem, although it is not at all necessary. Honestly, I was half sleep when I wrote that story and just really wanted to write Jason Todd. I was almost considering not making it canon, that's how unessential it is._

 _I think that's it for now. If you have any questions about continuity or anything, just tell me. I plan to do one story arc, but if this story becomes popular, I'll continue it._

* * *

 _Crack!_

The sounds of bones breaking went through the air as Batman bent a man's arm the wrong way. It'd take time to heal, maybe enough for him to learn not to work under The Joker.

The Clown Prince of Crime had been seen in the area and had left a trap for Batman outside a warehouse. There, waiting for him, were over thirty grunts with baseball bats and knives and the occasional assault riffle. He'd made quick work of a quarter of them, but he was getting tired. He wasn't as young as he used to be, and maybe he'd gotten too comfortable. He wasn't the only hero Gotham had anymore, and lately it seemed like the city had no use for Batman anymore.

 _Focus,_ Batman sternly thought to himself. _Before..._

It was then he noticed a thug aiming a gun at his exposed chin and pulling the trigger. He had battles gods, psychopaths, and had saved the world countless times...

But even Batman couldn't dodge a bullet.

* * *

The Joker sat on a large throne in the middle of the warehouse, smiling. Always smiling.

"Come on Bats, where the hell are you?" He asked no one who was there. "You should've taken out those goons ages ago. Sigh. Maybe we're getting soft in our old age."

Just then, the door to the warehouse opened, showing the silhouette of the Caped Crusader.

"Aw, there you are Bats!" Joker lagged as he stood of his throne. "I was thinking you had forgot! Today's our anniversary. Today was the day we locked in battle for the first time! Clown against bat, hero against evil, psychopath vs psychopath! Ahahahaha!"

Joker held a curious face as Batman just stood there.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Attack me! Those idiots didn't beat you too hard did they?"

Then, Batman fell to the ground, and revealed two goons who were holding him up.

"Bats?" Joker asked.

"He's out Boss," one of the grunts said. "We finally got him! We finally killed The Batman!"

Joker slowly walked, no longer smiling, to the body of his old foe. He noticed the gaping hole in the bottom of his chin. Definitely dead.

"Who did this?" Joker asked, no longer in his whimsical voice, but rather a dead serious grunt.

"Uh...I...I did boss," one of the grunts said, raising his hand. "I'm sorry if you wanted to kill him yourself..."

 _Blam!_

The goon fell as Joker shot him in the chest.

"Jesus, Joker!" The other goon exclaimed.

 _Blam! Blam! Blam!_ The gun rang off as Joker continued to shoot the downed crook multiple times.

"Give me your phone," Joker said as he never took his eyes off the corpse.

"Boss...?"

" **Your phone!** "

"He...here..." The crook stammered out as he handed Joker the phone.

After typing in a few numbers, he out the phone to his ear. "Hello. Yes, I saw the Joker recently by the old abandoned ACE Chemicals factory. I think he's armed. I'm scared."

Joker hung up the phone and sat down on the ground next to Batman. He didn't touch the body, or say anything. He just sat there and stared at it, no trace of a smile whatsoever.

* * *

Jason Todd, known more commonly as the Red Hood, broke the man's finger.

" _Argggghhhhh!"_ He yelled.

"Let's try that again," Red Hood said, making sure to get closer to the face of the man he interrogated. "Isabel Ardila. Where is she?"

"I...I don't know man, I swear!" the man claimed, tears forming in his eyes. "I don't know anything!"

"You were given up, Mason," Red Hood said to the man, real name Mason Farrow. "I know you kidnap girls for some guy who makes them into sex slaves. I just want to know if you took a certain one."

"What...what does she look like?"

"Short blonde hair. Twenty-three. About five foot four."

"I...I get lots of girls like that man, I don't know... _Aghhhhh!_ "

"Careful Mason, I'm running out of fingers. You don't wanna know what I'll break next."

"Black Mask! I work for Black Mask!"

"Mask?" Red Hood asked. "Human trafficking isn't really his MO."

"I swear, man! With the Joker out of the game, he's trying to expand his horizons! Pick up The Clown's territory!"

"The Joker...?"

 _Did Bruce finally see reason?_ Jason wondered. _No...he wouldn't do that..._

"What happened to the Joker?"

"What do you care?"

"Answer."

"He...he turned himself in! My brother said he lost it after..."

"After what?" Red Hood asked, before his radio in helmet came on.

 _"This...is the Batcave, calling to all members of the Batfamily. Come immediately. It's...it's urgent. It's Batman...it's...oh god..._

That was Alfred. He sounded...sad. Broken. He'd never heard Alfred talk like that. He said it was Batman. He...

No...

"We'll finish this later," Red Hood said. "Don't leave town."

* * *

Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, and Red Robin all stood in the Batcave. They had each heard it on the streets. Alfred's message just confirmed it.

But that didn't make it any easier.

They each acted differently. Dick and Barbara hugged and comforted each other. Tim typed away on computers, trying to find any proof, any thing that could prove that this was just some rumor. Damian just sat in a corner alone.

"You know he's going to ask you to do it," Barbara said as she pulled away from the hug. "He's gonna ask you to be..."

"I know," Dick said. "I'm...I'm ready."

"Hope you all didn't start without me," Red Hood said as he walked in the cave.

"What are you doing here?!" Damian yelled as he walked right up to Red Hood, a face full of anger. "You're not one of us. You don't deserve to be here."

"Kid, I'm sorry about your dad," Jason said as he took off his red helmet, revealing his eyes, red from crying, which caused the others to be a little surprised, especially Damian. "But get the fuck away from me."

Without saying another word, Damian walked away, accepting.

"Ah, you're all here," Alfred Pennyworth said as he walked to the front of the group. He'd obviously been crying, but he was putting on a brave face for them. "Master Bruce would be...I'm sorry..."

All the bats gathered around Alfred and embraced him as he broke into tears. All except Jason. Maybe Damian was right. Maybe he didn't belong here. What right did he have to call himself a part of this family? He quickly turned around to leave.

"Master Jason," Alfred said to the leaving man. "Please. Stay."

"..." After a moments hesitation, Jason walked back into the Batcave.

"Now, as I'm sure this comes to no surprise to any of you, Master Bruce has a will. I've never seen it, but he's given me explicit instructions to make sure whatever the tape says is followed," it was then Alfred pushed a button on the BatComputer, causing a blue hologram of Batman to pop up.

 _"Hello. If you're watching this, it means I've failed,"_ Bruce said. _"It means I've been defeated by the disease I swore I would one day eradicate. I want to say how proud I am of all of you. You've all been great soldiers. What's more, you've been a great family."_

Hearing Bruce use the word "family" caused a few tears from the assembled vigilantes.

 _"Of course, there's the matter of my worldly belongings. Here I state, I give Wayne Enterprises, and all of it's affiliations to Lucius Fox, until the day Damian is old enough to take over."_

"Father..."

 _"I also leave my home, Wayne Manor, to my other son, Dick Grayson. Take care of the place in my stead. It's...special to me."_

"Oh God, Bruce..."

 _"To Time Drake, I leave the BatComputer. The entire network and database I've collected over the years is all yours."_

 _Sniff!_

 _"For Barbara Gordon, I leave my entire library."_

"Oh..."

 _"And the Bat-Cycle."_

"Yes! I mean, uh, thank you."

 _"And lastly...I leave the legacy of Batman. I leave the BatCave, the Batmobile, my equipment, all my tools. I leave these all to my successor..."_

 _"...Jason Todd."_

" _ **What?!**_ " They all yelled out in surprise and alarm.

"Him?!" Damian demanded angrily. "How could he possibly give Batman to...someone like him!"

"Hey, I'm right here...," Jason mumbled out, even though he knew it was crazy. Him? Batman? How could that even work? Jason wasn't worthy of it. He's done too much.

"Um, I'm actually with the kid here," Jason said. "Can I, I don't know, refuse?"

"No. You can't," Dick said as he held up his hand for Jason to shake. "Congratulations, Jason."

"Are you even hearing yourself, Golden Boy?" Jason asked. "If they let me be Batman, they might as well let The Penguin. Or Selina."

"That might actually be kinda...," Tim started from a corner, before noticing everyone looking at him. "Uh, sorry."

Moving from the corner, Tim walked in front of Jason to the center of the room. "Look Jason, I think you should do this."

"Drake..."

"This might be good for you. You're just as qualified as anyone here, and Bruce chose _you_. Not me, or Dick, or Damian, but _you_. That's gotta mean something, right?"

"Th...thanks, Drake. I know...I know I haven't always been the nicest guy to you..."

"You were slaughtered, then brought back. I get it. And call me Tim, seriously. How would you feel if I called you Todd?"

"Point taken."

"I mean, of course Drake sounds so much cooler than Todd."

"Yeah, but Grayson sounds like some kinda super spy," Dick said as he wrapped his arms around the two. "It's suave and sexy."

"Are you hitting on us?" Jason asked.

"Just happy to be with all my brothers again. It's been...man, have we ever actually all been in the same room together?"

"It's been forever," Tim said. "Years, probably."

"Yeah, you guys wanna get a drink?" Jason asked.

"I'm sixteen," Tim stated.

"This is Gotham. I can find us a place."

"Actually, Master Todd, we'll have to talk about...some things..."

"Wait...is this for real?" Jason asked. "Am I...am I seriously going to be Batman?"

"We'll set all that up now, if you will."

After getting an encouraging smile from Dick and Tim, a sneer from Damian, and being ignored by Barbara, Jason followed Alfred down the hallway.

"Now, first things first, you'll have to be fitted for a suit. You're skinnier than Master Bruce was, so you'll have to get your own Batsuit..."

"Okay, but I wanna design it," Jason said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. First things first, I need the mask to be a full helmet. No disrespect, but it was a bad idea to leave his chin and mouth uncovered."

"Noted, sir."

"And I wanna get some red in there."

"Red, sir?"

"Hot red."

"Consider it done."

"Thanks Butler. And maybe at some red to the top of the car too."

"I'll have Mr. Fox work on it immediately, Master Todd."

"And Butler, stop calling me that."

"Stop calling me Butler, and we'll have a deal."

Jason gave a small smirk, "Deal, Alfred."

* * *

Dick Grayson sat in the Batcave, looking at the computer. Tim had decided to leave the computer for Jason, but copied all his files into what he called The Nest. Although he was happy for Jason, he did feel a little hurt that Bruce didn't pick him.

"Master Grayson?" Alfred called to the young man.

"Hey Alfred. I was just...looking through some old files. For a case."

With a small smile, Alfred walked to the computer and pushed a button, revealing a picture of Alfred, Bruce, and Dick back when he was still Robin, that was hidden.

"You got me," Dick said "Then again, I guess you always did. Where's Jason?"

"Designing his suit," Alfred said. "How do you think he'll do?"

"I...don't know. He was the least obvious choice, that's for sure," Dick said. "I mean, I'm happy for him, and I'm sure he'll be fine but..."

"Master Grayson. There is...something I wish to show you..."

"Yeah...what is it Alfred?"

Alfred reached past Dick and pushed a couple of buttons on the computer keyboard, before another blue hologram of Batman popped up.

"Alfred, I've already seen this."

"No," the butler said. "Not this one."

 _"Hello Alfred. This is a private message to you, and not to be shown to the rest of The Family."_

"Alfred, maybe I shouldn't..."

"Hush," Alfred said.

 _"I once told you that I brought Jason in to keep him from becoming part of the criminal element. And that was true. When I found him, stealing the tires of the Batmobile, I knew it was only a matter of time before he turned to a life of crime. And I would have to stop him. I know Jason has done things. I know he's killed. I know he's stolen. But I'm hoping that becoming the new Batman, by taking up this responsibility, will lead him off that path, forever. This...is my last attempt to save Jason Todd."_

"Bruce..."

 _"But if he steps out of line, I want Dick to take him down."_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _Hi guys._

 _In case you don't know, in every chapter I thank everyone that followed, favorited, and respond to reviews. You don't want to read that, you can go ahead and skip to the story._

 _Thanks to MarvelHero1610 for following and reviewing this story. Glad you're liking the story. As for Damian being Jason's Robin...we'll see._

 _Thanks to Guest for reviewing. Appreciate it._

 _Thanks to souldarkstar for favoriting and following._

 _Thanks to Jake.K for following and favoriting._

 _Thanks to MarthaJonesp2 for following._

 _Thanks to Chooch77 for following and favoriting._

 _Thanks to Savy160 for following and reviewing. Glad you loved it, hope you keep reading._

 _Thanks to Mireilles3 for following._

 _Thanks to jasminetiger for following._

 _Thanks to spiderman1fan for reviewing. Nice to see you again, my friend. Glad you're reading._

 _Thanks to blackcat1806 for following and favoriting._

 _Thanks to flameflyer500 for favoriting, following, and reviewing. Thanks for the kind words, hope you like Chapter 2._

 _And now, back to the story._

* * *

Police Commissioner James Gordon walked into the psych ward, a little agitated. He didn't really know what was going on, and he didn't trust it.

He walked to the secretary at the front desk and showed her his badge.

"Ah," she said. "You must be here for the 'special' patient."

"There's nothing 'special' about him," Gordon said with a serious tone. "He's just worse than the others."

"Right. Right this way, sir."

James followed the woman down a long hallway with no nurses in it and one big door at the end.

 _Ominous_ , he thought to himself.

"Is it okay to smoke?" James asked, holding a pack of cigarettes.

"I'm afraid not officer," the woman said. "This _is_ a hospital, you know."

"Right. Sorry."

The woman put her keys into the door and turned. Before opening it however, she turned to the old cop.

"Just a fair warning," she said. "It's a little...surprising at first."

"Open it."

And she did. And when she did, he saw him. Just sitting there. In the middle of the room, in a straight jacket.

The Joker. Madman. Criminal mastermind. The nemesis of Batman.

The man who shot his _daughter_.

James sat in the chair in front of Joker's. The Joker looked...off. His trademark smile was gone, leaving nothing but a dead expression. His hair was shorter and more trimmed. He looked thinner, maybe he hadn't been eating. And James knew that this wasn't the Joker. This was some man in his body.

"Joker," he said. "Do you know who I am?"

No reaction.

"Do you remember," he said. "Do you remember what you did to me? To my daughter?"

Nothing.

 _This isn't getting me anywhere._

"Did you kill Batman?" he asked.

He then finally saw a reaction. A small one. A flinch in the eyes. Then nothing.

"If you didn't kill Batman, who did?" James asked.

Nothing.

"Answer me!" James demanded, grabbing the Joker by his straight jacket.

"Gordon!" a voice said behind him. "I think it's time for you to leave."

Gordon turned to see the face of his friend Harvey Bullock behind him.

"Now," he said.

Gordon stormed out the room, leaving Bullock and the Joker behind.

* * *

 _"Are you ready, sir?"_ the voice of Alfred Pennyworth said over the intercom.

"Ready as I'll ever be Alfred," Jason Todd said from behind the wheel.

 _So this is it, huh?_ he thought. _This is it. This is **real.**_

 ** _I am Batman._**

* * *

 _Five Hours Ago..._

 _"Do you have the design ready, Jason?" Alfred asked the young man._

 _"A rough draft, anyway," Jason said._

 _"This is a rough draft, sir?" Alfred asked seeing the paper. On the paper were designs and schematics, more than he expected Jason Todd to do._

 _"If I'm gonna be Batman, I have to do it right," Jason said._

 _"I see you still kept the red helmet design."_

 _"I wear the red hood for a reason, Alfred," Jason said. "So I don't forget what I am. So I don't forget what I've done. So I don't forget **him**."_

 _"The Joker, sir?"_

 _"Yeah," Jason said grimly. "Yeah, him."_

 _"I'll get to work on the suit right away, sir."_

 _"Thank you, Alfred."_

 _Alfred walked away with the designs, apparently giving them to Lucius Fox._

 _Jason put his hands together and looked into the shadows of the wall, brooding. He did a few seconds before quitting._

 _God, this boring as hell, he thought._

 _It was then he became aware of someone looking at him._

 _"I know you're there," he said._

 _Damian Wayne fell from the ceiling and landed in front of Jason._

 _"Hi," Jason said. "You wanna get some pizza?"_

 _"Pizza?"_

 _"Yeah, you know. The food of the gods," Jason said. "Kids like pizza, right?"_

 _"I am **not** a kid."_

 _"How old are you again?"_

 _"...twelve."_

 _"Yeah, you're a kid. Come on."_

* * *

 _"Why are we here?" Damian asked._

 _They sat, costumes off, in a small pizza cafe that sat in downtown Gotham called Lil' Eddies._

 _"I just wanted to talk," Jason responded._

 _"We're not friends."_

 _"Oh, I know that," Jason said. "But we're family."_

 _"We are not blood."_

 _"It takes more than blood," Jason said. "There's a difference between relatives and family."_

 _"...I guess so," Damian said as he took a bite of pepperoni. "This is...magnificent."_

 _"Your dad never took you out for pizza?"_

 _"..."_

 _"Oh man, I'm sorry," Jason said. "I'm sorry, I..."_

 _"A couple of times," Damian said, wiping his eyes. "We got pizza a couple of times."_

 _They sat in silence for a moment, remember the man who was like a father to the both of them._

 _"So," Damian asked, breaking the silence. "What did you want to talk about?"_

 _"It's...I know you don't like me..."_

 _"Understatement."_

 _"Noted," Jason said. "But...I guess I'm gonna be around for a while. And I...(this is so awkward)...and I don't want any bad blood between us. Me and Bruce settled things between the two of us. I just want us to get along."_

 _"...," Damian contemplated for a few moments. "Once a month, we go out for pizza. Then, I might learn to forgive you."_

 _"Deal," Jason said with a smile._

 _"So...," Damian wondered. "Do you...want me to be your Robin?"_

 _"No," Jason stated without hesitation._

 _"No?"_

 _"It's nothing against you, trust me," Jason said. "But...going through...what I went through..."_

 _Jason was then flooded with memories. A warehouse. A laugh. A smile._

 _And a crowbar._

 _"...I don't think I could put a kid's life in danger like that."_

 _"...understood," Damian said, taking another bite of pizza._

* * *

 _Vrooooommmmm!_ The engine of the batmobile called back to Jason's ears.

"Hell yeah," Jason said.

 _"Ready when you are, sir."_

"Does this thing have radio, Alfred?" Jason asked. "I need some theme music."

 _"Of course, sir."_

Just then, the batmobile started playing Thunderstruck by AC/DC.

"What the hell?" Jason asked. "Alfred, when'd you learn how to rock?"

 _"With all due respect sir,"_ the British man responded. _"I've been rocking since before your parents even met."_

Jason smiled under his mask.

And pushed the gas.

* * *

 _"Whoa, careful with that!" Dick called to Jason, who was carrying a box._

 _They were walking through Wayne Manor, where Jason and Tim were helping Dick move in._

 _"What's in this box anyway?" Jason asked._

 _"It's...my Robin suit," Dick admitted._

 _"You guys still have yours?" Jason asked the two._

 _"Mine's in my apartment," Tim said, carrying another box. "I guess yours is..."_

 _"Right," Jason said. "In the memorial."_

 _There was an awakened silence for a few moments, before Tim broke the silence._

 _"So Dick," he said. "What do you think of your new place?"_

 _"It's...great," Dick said. "It hasn't changed since I was a kid...except smaller maybe."_

 _"Ha. Yeah," Jason said._

 _"Feels the same to me," Tim said._

 _"That's because you're still small," Dick said._

 _"Go to hell you guys," Tim said with a small smirk, while Jason and Dick laughed._

 _"Hey," Dick asked. "What do you want me to do about the bookshelf?"_

 _"Huh?" Jason asked._

 _"There's a tunnel to the Batcave behind it," Tim said. "Should we block it off, or...?"_

 _"Oh yeah," Jason realized. "I guess you can keep it there. Just knock before you come in, though. I might have some...company, y'know."_

 _"Oh lord," Dick said, rolling his eyes._

 _"Hey, somebody might want to say thank you for saving them," Jason said._

 _"Dude," Tim said. "You never take girls back to your house."_

 _They both looked at him for a few moments._

 _"What?" Tim asked. "I'm sixteen, not dead."_

 _"Come on, are you seriously telling me you never brought a girl to the Cave?" Jason asked Dick. "And Barbara doesn't count."_

 _"Um..." Dick pondered._

 _"Dude, I was sneaking girls in there left and right when Bruce wasn't there," Jason said. "I think Bruce even got Selina in there a couple of times..."_

 _"Okay, now it's uncomfortable," Tim said. "Hey Dick, what do you wanna do with...Bruce's stuff?"_

 _"I...don't know," Dick said. "I know Barbara is taking the books, she said she'll be here later to get them."_

 _"Yeah, where is she?" Jason asked. "She didn't want to join the effort?"_

 _"I asked her not to come," Dick said. "I wanted us to hang out for a while."_

 _"She didn't want to see me, did she?"_

 _"Not even a little bit," Dick said. "But as far as Bruce's stuff...maybe we should...I don't know, put it in storage?"_

 _"We could find somewhere to put it in the Batcave," Jason suggested. "Maybe have it as some kind of memorial...or something."_

 _"It's a nice thought," Tim said. "But I don't think having some guy's sheets is gonna help you get some."_

 _Dick and Jason stood there._

 _"Guys...I know it's hard, but maybe we should...I don't know, get rid of it."_

 _"Get rid of it?" Dick asked._

 _"It's not like we can sell it," Tim said. "You know Bruce planned for everything. How much of his stuff do you think has some kind of bobby trap or something."_

 _"I...wouldn't put it past him," Jason said._

 _"Exactly," Tim said. "I think...I think we should..."_

 _"Yeah," Dick said. "I get it."_

 _An hour and a half later, they had a big pile of all of Bruce's worlds possessions (except for the books) in the backyard. They all stood around it, taking a moment to take it it. Then, each of them held up a match, and struck it at the same time. Then threw it on the pile. They stood there a few moments, watching it all burn._

 _"Do you guys...hear something?" Dick asked._

 _"Yeah...," Tim said. "It sounds like..."_

 _ **"Oh shit!"** they all yelled out._

 _They all ran away from the pile as it exploded, and fire, gel, and ropes rained from the sky._

 _"Well," Jason said. "I guess you were right about the booby traps."_

* * *

The batmobile pulled out of the cave, and flew out onto the street. It was the same batmobile, except the top was now dark red. The black and red car drove through the streets of Gotham, quickly.

 _"Sir, I think you might want to slow down."_

"Come on, I've been wanting to drive one of these things since I was a kid!" Jason exclaimed into the intercom. "I just want to have a little...damn!"

Walking in the middle of the street was a blonde teenage girl, holding groceries. Jason quickly turned the wheel of the car, avoiding her. Seeing that she was okay, Jason kept going, not wanting to face this situation.

"Batman?" the girl asked out loud.

The girl took out her phone and put it to her ear.

"Harp? It's Steph. I think Batman almost hit me with his car," she said to her friend on the phone. "No, I'm not going to follow him...!"

* * *

 _"You wanted to see me Alfred?" Jason asked as he walked to the back room of the Batcave. "Whoa..."_

 _Sitting behind the butler, was Jason's new suit._

 _It was a mostly black armor with a red helmet that resembled his Red Hood, except it was only red in the front and black in the back. The suit neck down was mostly a black Kevlar suit with armor plating over it. On the black armor in the chest was a red bat symbol. The waist down were what looked to be black army pants with a belt, similar to the one Bruce wore, except black and more militaristic in appearance. On his arms were two gauntlets with a button on the side. There was no armor on his fists, however, just the Kevlar._

 _[AN: I'm terrible at describing things. If you want to see Jason's costume, you can see the cover of this story.]_

 _"I...love it," Jason said._

 _"Yes, it's very...badass, sir," Alfred said. "But there's something that worries me. In the gauntlets..."_

 _"Air soft bullets Alfred," Jason said. "Not enough to kill, but they sting like a bitch."_

 _"...of course, sir."_

 _"Alfred, I swear to you," Jason said. "I'm done killing. I have a legacy to keep intact."_

* * *

 _"Are you going to slow down **now,** sir?"_

"Yeah, slowing down," Jason Todd said. "Anything coming up on the police scanner?"

"Nothing sir," Alfred said. _"It appears to be a quiet night in Gotham, for once."_

"Just my luck," Jason said. "Although that's weird...with Bruce...gone, you'd think there'd be a huge crime wave."

 _"Maybe they're celebrating sir."_

"Yeah," Jason said. "Or maybe they're all together, planning something _big_."

* * *

" _Woohooooo!"_ the penguin exclaimed.

The Iceberg Lounge filled with joy and laughter as almost every criminal in Gotham celebrated the death of The Batman. Drinks were shared. Fun was had. For once, all the crime families of Gotham came together to celebrate the death of a mutual foe.

"To the death of The Batman!" The Penguin yelled, causing everyone to cheer.

"Cobblepot, what the hell is going on here?!" the voice of Carmine Falcone yelled out to to the short man.

"Celebrating, Falcone," the Penguin said. "The Batman is dead."

"So you're great idea was to get every criminal in Gotham in one place?!" Falcone demanded. "That'll just make it easier to..."

 _ **Boom!**_

Just then, various explosions filled the Iceberg Lounge. People tried to leave, but the doors were blocked by debris. Then, the lights went out. Everything was quiet. Until it was heard.

"Ding dong...the bat is dead..." a silent voice rang out. "Ding dong...the bat is dead..."

Chills went down the spines of every hardened criminal in the Lounge.

"...ding dong...ding dong..."

Suddenly, a spotlight came on at the front of the Lounge, where a single man stood.

The man was pale white. His eyes were pink. He had on no shirt. On his body was various tattoos. One large cross down his chest and stomach. Various crosses on his body. Also on his body, were various bodies of text. Upon closer inspection, it was various verses from the Bible in cursive. On his forehead, in small stringy letters, was one word: _God_.

"'And Jesus said to her,'" the man said. "'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will _live_ , even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'"

Nobody spoke. It was too...strange.

 _ **"Do you believe this?!"**_ the man demanded, his quiet voice now replaced with with a deep and loud growl.

"Yo man, fuck this shit!" a big black man with an assault riffle said, standing up. "Let's waste this..."

Then, the big man doubled over in pain as the man pointed to him. He spit up blood.

"Ple...please...help me..." the big man stammered out. His body started growing skinnier, and his dark brown skin started turning pale white. His pupils started turning pink, and he fell to the ground, dead, as his body was nothing left but a shriveled white husk.

"' _Thou shalt not kill,'_ " the man at the front said. "But even God flooded the earth when man became too corrupt."

"Who the hell are you?!" The Penguin demanded. "What did you do to him?!"

"Me? You can call me... ** _Church_** ," the man said. "And I put little nanobots in the champagne of every single person here. Nanobots that I can use to kill every single person here, on _will alone_. They are now multiplying in your bloodstream. They will be there until you die. Only you can decide how soon that date is."

On that, every person started to panic. They started to walk around, talk, and try to figure something out.

 _ **"Shut up!"**_ Church said, holding out his hands, making everyone fall to the ground. "You are all...too damn loud."

"What the hell do you want?!" Penguin demanded.

"What do I want?" Church asked. "It's not about what _I_ want. It is about what the Lord wants."

"And what, pray tell, does the Lord want us to do?"

" _Repent_."

 ** _Crash!_**

Everyone looked up to see an armored black and red figure standing in a high window.

"I swear to fucking God, if another person breaks something in my Lounge...!" Penguin yelled.

It was then he too started coughing and shriveling up.

"No...!" he yelled.

"Do not say thou's lord name in vain," Church said, before a red batarang stabbed into his hand. "Agh!"

"Sorry," the armored figure said as he jumped from the window and two red metal wings sprouted from his back, allowing him to glide in front of Church. "I didn't mean to crash your party."

"And who are you supposed to be?" Church asked the figure.

"Me?" the figure said. "I'm the goddamned Batman."

This caused the criminals to once again stir.

"Interesting," Church said, before dropping a smoke bomb to the floor.

"Penny-one?" Batman asked to his intercom.

 _"Gone, sir."_

"And I thought the Joker was freaky."

Batman turned to see the criminals all turned, looking at him.

"Looks like you were right about the celebration, penny-one," Batman said. "I see champagne on the floor and strippers."

 _"Are you going to take them all out alone, sir?"_

"I guess I'll have to," Batman said. "Radio the police. I'll hold them as long as I can."

 _"Yes, sir."_

Batman jumped and landed among the criminals as the lights turned back on.

"Man," Batman said. "If idiots could fly, this place would be an airport."

" _You're_ not Batman," the Penguin said as he walked to the armored vigilante. "He doesn't make jokes."

"Who's making jokes?" Batman said. "I know the last Batman let your activities slide because you have people in the police department and would be out in a matter of hours."

"And I still do," Penguin said as he pointed at Batman. "So don't even think of..."

Batman grabbed Penguin's finger.

"I don't care," Batman said before pulling Cobblepot's finger backwards, breaking them. "By the time I'm down with you, you'll be _begging_ to be sent to prison."

" _Arghhhhhh!_ " Penguin exclaimed as he saw his fingers that were still facing the wrong way. "What are you waiting for? Kill him!"

The people rushed Batman. He dropped a smoke bomb to the ground, causing them all to stop.

"I...I can't see him!"

"I told you Batman wasn't dead!"

A red batarang flew out from the smoke and hit a man in the eye. Then, a foot came out and kicked the same man in the side of the leg, breaking it.

He took the batarang out of the man's eyes and stabbed it in another's shoulder. He then punched the man in the face, breaking his nose.

He got another man and RKO'd him, them kicked another in the nuts.

"This dude's fucking crazy!" a guy said. "Let's get out of here!"

All the criminals ran to the door and worked together to move the debris out of the way. They all pushed and shoved their way out...

Only to be greeted by rows of police cars, lights flashing.

As all that was going on outside, Batman walked to Penguin, who was holding his hand. He aimed his umbrella at Batman.

"Ha! Got you..." Cobblepot yelled out before Batman slammed his hand on the umbrella, breaking it.

"Ha," Batman said. "Got you."

With that, Batman slammed Penguin's head into a counter, not hard enough to kill him, but enough to leave a bloody gash in his head. Plus a concussion.

" _If_ you remember this," Batman said, looking down at the crime lord. "Just remember: don't cross me."

Afterwards, he held his hand out and a grappling hook extended from his forearm, dragging him through the air, away.

* * *

Batman drove through Gotham, a small smile on his face. He pushed a button on the side of his helmet, causing it to pull back, revealing Jason Todd.

 _"So, that went rather well."_

"Yeah," Jason said, too excited to say much else. The adrenalin was _insane._

 _"The public is already talking of a new Batman."_

"Are they saying nice things?"

 _"So far."_

"Good, I just hope..."

 _"Sir?"_

"Sorry Alfred," Jason said. "It's just...the Bat-Signal."

Jason looked up into the sky and saw the symbol of The Batman, shining in the sky.

 _"I guess you'd better get going then."_

Jason smiled.

* * *

James Gordon stood on the top of the roof of the Gotham City Police Department. He'd done this many times before, but now he didn't know what to expect. Or _who_.

"Commissioner," a voice said behind him.

He turned around to see the new Batman, standing behind him.

"Well," Gordon said. "At least you got the scaring the shit out of me down."

Gordon pulled out a large box and wheels and rolled it to Batman.

"What is...?"

"It's his body," Gordon said. "We found the Joker with it. I made sure nobody took off the mask, not even me."

"I...appreciate it, Commissioner."

"And so...did you just decide to become Batman, or did..."

"I knew him," Batman said. "He asked me in his will to replace him."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"I'm sorry for yours."

"Thank you," Gordon said. "...can I trust you?"

"What?"

"I trusted the original Batman. I knew him, sort of. I don't know you," Gordon said. "Are you going to pick up where the original left off, or am I gonna have to arrest you?"

"With all do respect Commissioner," Batman said. "I'm not the original. I can't promise he would do everything I'll do. As for will I turn on you, or Gotham, or anything, you don't have to worry. I will be the new Batman, and I will protect my city."

"Good answer," Gordon said. "...any chance you could tell me who he was?"

"I...don't know if I..."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Gordon said. "That would...humanize him too much. Make the loss even worse to bear,"

Gordon turned around, facing away from Batman, and looked out over the city.

"Good job tonight at the Iceberg Lounge. A lot of people on our wanted lists got taken down. You really know how to make a bang."

Gordon turned around and saw that Batman was still there.

"Hm," Gordon said. "I'm not used to someone still being there when I turn around."

"I told you," Batman said. "I'm not the same Batman."

"Yeah," Gordon said as Batman took the box and jumped from the roof. "I guess not."

Harvey Bullock walked out onto the roof.

"So, what's ya think?" Bullock asked.

"I don't trust him," Gordon said as he lit a cigarette. "Not yet, anyway."

"I like him," Bullock said. "Apparently, he stabbed a guy in the eye with one of those bat things. The guy had previously raped a woman, then killed their children when they were born."

"You think he knew that when he did it?" Gordon asked.

"Who cares?" Bullock asked. "I'm telling you Gordon, this is the Batman Gotham _needs_."

* * *

Barbara Gordon, in her Batgirl costume, sat across on the roof across from the Police Department, with binoculars.

"Nice legs," a voice said behind her.

"Jeez!" she yelled as she turned to see Jason Todd in his Batman armor.

"Hey Red."

"When'd you know I was watching you?" Batgirl asked.

"Before I ever came here," Batman said. "I knew you'd run over here as soon as that light went up."

"I had to make sure," Batgirl said. "I had to make sure you wouldn't hurt him."

"Jeez, what kind of guy do you think I am?"

"I don't _know_ what kind of guy you are, Jason!"

Batman sighed, before taking off his helmet.

"Barbara," Jason said. "Do you honestly think I would hurt your father?"

"You've hurt people before."

"So have you."

"That's different."

"It's not."

"You tired to kill Bruce!"

"I...I was never _really_ gonna hurt Bruce," Jason said. "I _was._ At first. But, you gotta understand. The Joker killed me. And Bruce...he didn't kill him. And I kept thinking...that maybe if it had been Dick that had been killed, maybe he would've done it."

"Jason, Bruce loved you..."

"He loved you too," Jason said. "He told me. After you were...after the Joker took your legs."

Barbara didn't say anything.

"The Joker ruined both our lives I guess," Jason said.

"Yeah maybe," Barbara said. "But that doesn't mean we can't keep living."

"Yeah."

"Jason, I'm sorry," Batgirl said. "But it's gonna take me a while to forgive you. But I'll try."

"Thanks Barbara," Jason said. "I appreciate it."

* * *

Batman drove down the street.

 _"It's getting late sir,"_ Alfred said. _"Do you think it's time to come back."_

"I'm gonna drive around for a bit," Jason said. "Go ahead and sleep."

 _"Sir..."_

"Alfred," Jason said. "I'll be fine."

"Sir..."

"Are you worried I might get hurt," Jason said. "Or that I'll hurt somebody else?"

 _"...goodnight, sir."_

Then there was a click, and Jason turned his intercom off. And suddenly turned.

He drove until he was parked outside a large building. He pushed a button and he was shot high into the air, then flew through a window sigh a crash. He saw four people pull guns on him, but he threw batarangs that disarmed them. He landed on the desk that sat the one he came to see...

Black Mask.

"Guns down my friends," Mask said to his henchmen.

"Yeah," Batman said. "Don't you know how to treat a guest?"

"And you must be the new Batman," Black Mask said. "What can I do for you?"

"Isabel Ardila," Batman said. "I've got Intel that says she was sold to _your_ sex trafficking ring."

"You can't expect me to know the name of every single..."

Batman threw a picture to the front of Black Mask. On it was a picture of a young woman with short blonde hair.

"I guess I can see what I can do," Black Mask said. "Now...what is in this for me?"

"If you find her, and only if," Batman said. "Then I'll owe you one favor. Anything you want."

"Wow," Black Mask said. "You really are a new Batman, aren't you?"

"Find her," Batman said. "And if I find out she's dead..."

"Of course," Black Mask said. "We have a deal."

"Good," Batman said as he jumped out the way he came. "Don't make me regret it."

Black Mask turned back to the guards that looked at him.

"Well, _that_ was fascinating."

* * *

The Joker sat in his room, still quiet and unmoving. They had put a television in his room, in hopes to get him to talk, or something. Nothing was really one.

Then he saw the news.

 _"This is reporter Vicki Vale with the latest,"_ the voice of the red head reporter said. _"Recent reports and eye witnesses tell me that there might already be a new Batman in Gotham City. We have word that..."_

The Joker sat up and looked at the screen a few moments before responding.

"Batsy," he said, a wide smile slowly spreading across his face. "Darling."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 _Sorry I'm late. Personal stuff. I'll try to be on time._

 _Thanks to luci-nana90 for favoriting and following me and this story._

 _Thanks to 3241 for favoriting and following this story._

 _Thanks to Pandora-Dono for favoriting._

 _Thanks to Glassea for following._

 _Thanks to Chronicles of Potter for following._

 _Thanks to the awesome MarvelHero1610 for reviewing again. Glad you're enjoying it, and thanks for pointing out some mistakes on my part, really appreciate it. Hope you keep reading!_

 _Thanks to Warhawk'42 for reviewing. Glad you got that Dark Knight Returns reference, hopefully I'll find a way to slip more Easter eggs in here so_ _mewhere._

 _Thanks to the Guest who reviewed. I admit, your review kinda got me off guard. I've never gotten a request for a lemon scene before, nor have I ever written one before (although I do have plans to) but I'll take your suggestion under consideration. I'm not saying Jason and Barbara will get together, and I'm not saying they won't. You'll have to read and see._

 _Thanks to StyxxandBethany for following and reviewing. I like Jason too :) as for Terry, I don't know if Jason has been Batman before Batma_ _n Beyond but I do think the black and red seems like something Jason would wear._

 _Speaking of Batman Beyond, I was thinking of maybe making Jason's suit in this story the Batman Beyond costume. Give me some feedback on that you guys._

* * *

 _Crack!_

Another bone shattered as the crowbar hit the teenager boy over the head.

"Oh, be still!" The Joker yelled at the teen who struggled to crawl way with what strength he had left. "It'll only hurt...a lot."

 _Smash! Crack! Wham!_

The hits kept going until the teen felt his life start to slip away.

"Oh no, you can't die yet!" The Joker yelled at the boy. "You still haven't seen the grand finale! Oh, what to do, what to do..."

The Joker walked to the door of the warehouse and smiled once again.

"Ah, I'll just leave ya here," he said. "If you can escape, more power to ya. The bat should be here soon. I wonder what he'll say when he finds out I broke his little toy. Oh, I'm getting shivers just thinking about it! Ahahahahaha!"

With that, the Joker left the warehouse, closing the door behind.

Y...yes..., the teen thought. It had stopped the beating had stopped. And the Joker left. He had an opportunity. A chance! He could get out of here, find Batman, and then everything would be okay again. Everything would be fine.

With all his strength he crawled towards the large door that sat at the front of the warehouse. He hardly made it before having to stop. He somehow found the strength to climb to his knees and grab onto the door handle and twist.

It was locked.

 _Oh course it's locked,_ the teen wondered. _He's not **that** crazy. He probably just wanted me to get my hopes up, sick bastard._

The teen slumped to the ground in front of the door, tired. So very tired...he had to find a way out. Maybe there was a window around here. He started looking around...

And noticed a red digital clock, ticking down from 00:01 to 00:00.

 _Fuck._

* * *

"Agh!" Jason yelled as he woke up in his apartment building, waking from his dream.

Just a dream...

He'd had the dreams numerous times before. For as much as he joked around, and acted like he was okay, he knew it wasn't true. Being murdered and brought back to life had taken a toll on him. Physically he was fine. Mentally? Not so much. Ra's al Ghul had once told him that the affects from the Lazarus Pit would eventually take his mind, turning him psychotic. Maybe as crazy as the Joker. It made him shiver about it every time he thought about it.

And he thought about it a lot.

Jason got out of the bed, slowly. He was wearing nothing but some pajamas pants, and his black hair was unruly and uncombed. He could feel a little fuzz growing on his cheeks, and wondered if he should let it grow.

He pulled on a t-shirt and walked outside barefoot.

He walked down the streets of Gotham, taking in the scene. He'd once said the city was a cesspool, and maybe it was, but he'd be damned if it didn't look down right gorgeous at night. The numerous lights from streetlights and lit windows, didn't make the city bright, but instead gave it an ominous glow that suited the city perfectly.

 _Now I see why Bruce wanted to protect this place,_ Jason thought. _That, and maybe a little psychosis._

Jason turned and saw a bar that he often visited as the Red Hood. It was full of Gotham's worst. He'd regularly go in there and kick all their asses, then get a beer. He wasn't really dressed for the occasion, but maybe he could make an exception.

He strolled into the bar, ready for a fight.

And saw...people.

People just drinking and watching reruns of the football game from yesterday.

 _...huh?_

"Ah, you must be a new costumer!" the older Asian man said to Jason, walking to him. "We're getting a lot of those lately."

"Uh, what happened to this place?" Jason asked. "Isn't it, y'know, normally filled to the brim with assholes?"

"Turns out, they all were led by the Penguin!" the man said, a large smile on his face. "But since Penguin is invalid, they don't come here any more. Maybe they ran away, maybe they're dead. I don't care, as long as they're not in my bar."

"That's...great..." Jason said. "Can I get the us..."

He was about to say the usual, but remembered he wasn't wearing a certain red helmet.

"Uh, can I get a beer? Any beer?"

"Okay, but if you say _any_ beer, I'll get you the cheapest we have."

"I'm fine with that."

"Good man," the man said. "I like you."

Jason took a seat at the bar and waited for his drink. He took this time to think about things. About his future. He was Batman, does that mean he'd have to do the things the way Bruce did them? Bruce isolated himself from others so he wouldn't get too attached to them, if he even _could_ get attached to something. Or someone. Jason didn't think he could do that, or that he'd even _want_ to.

"Your beer sir," the man, who's name tag read Mr. Moon, said.

"Thanks," Jason said, reaching into his pocket...and realizing he was in pajama pants. No wallet.

"Uh, I forgot my wallet..." Jason started.

"There's an ATM right outside," Mr. Moon said.

* * *

Jason again walked the streets of Gotham.

 _I'm sure Damian won't mind me taking just a couple hundred dollars from the Wayne Enterprises bank account,_ Jason thought.

"Hi sweetie," a scantily clad blond woman said. "Wanna have a good time?"

 _Hm...tempting...,_ Jason thought. _And I do have a couple hundred dollars left over...nah, no condom._

"Sorry ma'am," Jason said, before taking out seven hundred dollars. "Maybe later. But here."

"Th...thank you so much!" she exclaimed. "Make sure you come back soon. I could...repay you..."

"I might have to take you up like that," Jason said as he walked away.

 _Isabel could be doing the same thing right now,_ Jason thought. _No wait, she'd probably just be sold and not even have a choice in the matter._

Jason hated being so helpless, but there was nothing he could do. Not until he got word back from Black Mask.

 _Blam! Ba-Pow!_

 _Gunshots?_ Jason pondered. Of course there were gunshots. This was Gotham, there was no such thing as a peaceful night.

Jason started sprinting down the road. Bruce head once told Jason that Superman used to change into his costume in a phone booth. Jason didn't know if Bruce was joking (but knowing Bruce...) but Bruce had sort of adopted the idea.

Jason ran into the Wayne Enterprises phone booth he found on the sidewalk. He took the phone off the hook and typed in the numbers 4-11-26. Suddenly, the booth shifted, and the bottom lowered like an elevator to a mini Batcave stockpiled with different equipment. He walked past the equipment towards the center where his suit was. He smiled.

* * *

"Is all this really necessary?" the goon asked the other.

"Boss says we move crates, we move crates," the other goon said.

"If the boss said to jump off a bridge, would you do it?"

"If he paid me enough," the other goon replies.

The two goon step over the bodies of the dead guards they shot, although one of them falls.

"Shit!" he exclaims as he hits the ground.

"Goddammit Bobby!" the other goon exclaims. "This is what your Uncle Tom-looking ass gets!"

"Shut up Joey!" the goon, apparently named Bobby yells in defiance before mumbling under his breath. "'Uncle Tom.' Dick."

 _Vroooom!_

"Ya hear something Bobby?"

"Yeah," Bobby says, getting up from the ground. "Sound like your mom did last night."

"Fuck you Joey."

"Your mom already did."

"I said shut up!" Joey yells.

"Aw come on, you gotta admire his creativity...," a voice calls out. Suddenly, flying up off a ramp on a red and black motorcycle, the new Batman descended upon the two goons.

"Ah, how I knew you'd arrive on time," a calm and suave voice came from the shadows.

"Black Mask?" Batman asked as the crime lord strolled out from his hiding place.

"The very same."

"You got these guards killed just to get my _attention_?" Batman asked incredulously. "Well, you got it. I don't play games, Mask."

"Oh, then maybe you don't want to know the whereabouts of your precious Isabel?" Black Mask asked, feigning friendliness.

Batman said nothing.

"You see, this might be a game," Black Mask replied. "But I have all the cheat codes."

Mask held out a small file.

"This is all the information I could find. It states where she is and who has her. Should be easy enough for you to get her out," Black Mask said. "I hope this means you'll remember your end of the bargain. One favor. Anything I ask."

"What do you want?" Batman asked.

"There'll be time for that later," Black Mask said, walking back into the shadows. "For now, get your princess back, Dark Knight."

Batman stood there as Black Mask left. He noticed the two goons from earlier staring at him, literally shaking in their boots. He could swear he saw a wet stain on one of their crotches.

"Boo," Batman said.

This caused the men to run away. Jason threw a batarang that stabbed into their leg, making them fall.

"Not so fast," Batman said as he walked to the crawling forms. "You still killed two people."

Batman kicked them in the face, making their lights go out.

* * *

Jason stood on the edge of the building, looking out towards a large boathouse at the harbor. This, according to the information from Mask, was where Isabel was being held.

He jumped down and extended his wings, wasting no time.

 _Crash!_

Jason crashed through the window, throwing batarangs at the people inside, then dropped a smoke bomb so they couldn't see him.

 _I'm gonna get you back, Isabel._ Jason thought. _I swear._

* * *

The Joker sat in the nursing home room, his face once again stoic and unemotional. A black woman, who was his nurse, walked in with a plate of food on a metal tray and placed it in front of him. Joker just looked at it.

"You know, you have to eat something," she said. "Unlike everybody else, I don't think you should die."

Joker looked up to her, emotionless.

"I just...I never thought of you as...evil. Just, y'know, sick," she said. "I want to help you become someone. Not this, but..."

Joker pulled his arms apart, showing that he undid his straight jacket.

"You...how did you..." the nurse started.

Joker got up and picked up the plate, smashing it across the face of the nurse, causing her to break her nose and fall to the ground.

"Sorry Hun," Joker said as he put the woman in a headlock. "I already have a Harley Quinn."

Joker kicked open the door to his room, the woman still in a headlock. This caused all the nurses and few guards to look at them with surprise, with the guards aiming guns at Joker.

"Now now," Joker said. "We wouldn't want me to get angsty, would we?"

The guards slowly lowered their guns, but kept them in their hands.

"Lalalala," Joker sang as he strolled down the hallway. He walked by the guard, snatched his gun out of his hand and shot him in the face, then aimed it at the other guard and pulled the trigger before he could react. "Oh, looks like the janitor's got some work for him tonight. Hope he gets a raise."

Joker walked towards the door and turned towards the remaining nurses.

"Pl...please," a auburn haired nurse pleaded to the Joker. "Let Amy go. You're free."

"Hehehe...," the Joker giggled. "You know, before I got to the bat hunting biz, I was a magician. I would snap my fingers, and disappear."

"Get it," Joker said, his smile gradually growing. "I would _snap_ and disappear."

"Please...no...," the nurse in Joker's grasp pleaded.

 _Snap!_

The nurse fell to the ground as the nurses screamed. Joker just strolled right out, smiling all the way.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 _Thanks to flameflyer500 for reviewing. Yeah, the Joker scenes are really fun to write. I just thing of the craziest and sadist stuff I can and pt it down._

 _Thanks to spiderman1fan for reviewing. Glad you liked it._

 _Thanks to Leradomi for reviewing. As for Jason's costume, the mask is different from the hood. You know how the Arkham Knight's helmet looks? Well, his looks like that, except red instead of blue. Sorry for the confusion. As for the ATM thing, he keeps his card in his ass crack. I thought everyone did that? :) (Seriously though, I don't use an ATM so I should've did some research or something. My bad.)_

 _Thanks again to StyxxandBethany for reviewing. Yeah, this is gonna put Jason through the ringer. That's all I want to say without spoiling anything._

 _And lastly, thanks to MarvelHero1610 for reviewing. Glad you liked it, and I was really proud of the Joker scenes._

* * *

Jason punched the man side, causing him to vomit and faint.

"Tell me what I need to know!" Batman demanded, breaking another bone I another man's body. "I know this is where you keep the girls, tell me where!"

"Downstairs!" the man finally relented. "We keep 'em downstairs."

"Thanks," Batman said, before slamming the man's head to the ground, knocking him unconscious and probably giving him a concussion.

Jason turned around and saw the unconscious bodies of all the criminals he beat down.

 _I hope Isabel appreciates all the trouble I'm going through,_ he thought.

Batman walked down the stairs into a large dark basement. Along the wall, was a large cell, filled with scantily clad women.

But he didn't see Isabella.

"Who the hell is that?!" one of the women, who Jason was pretty sure had a dick, asked in fear.

"I'm Batman," Jason said, still getting used to saying that, as he picked the lock on the cell door. "You're free to go."

"Damn Batman, you are definitely my hero," a woman said as they all ran out.

This was a scene Jason was familiar with. Back when he was the Red Hood, he made it his business to save as many sex slaves as he could. They were the forgotten people that Batman never looked for. Jason promised himself he would do better.

Batman walked into the cell as all the women left out. He didn't see Isabel. He looked around and saw nothing in the cell, not even any food or water, or even a goddamned bucket to piss in. If he was the Red Hood, he'd kill every single person involved in this...

Jason noticed a small blanket in the corner, and...it looked like someone was under it, although he couldn't see their face. Batman walked over to the shape and removed the blanket...

It was Isabel. She was covered in dirt and had a small bruise on her cheek (he'd have to ask her about and beat the shit out of whoever did it), but was otherwise okay, somehow managing to sleep through all the noise. She always was a deep sleeper.

"Is?" Batman asked, nudging the sleeping blonde. "Are you okay?"

"Hm...?" She groaned as she woke up, then looked surprised as she saw Batman staring down at her. "Who the hell...?!"

"Is, it's me," Jason said as he pushed a button on the side of his helmet, causing it to pull back, revealing Jason's smiling face.

"Jason?" Isabel asked in surprise.

"Hey kiddo," Jason said as he helped her up.

* * *

"Not gonna lie, I kinda miss the jacket," Isabel said with a smile, as she sat across from Jason.

Isabel and Jason (no suit) sat in Lil' Eddies, where they had their first date. Actually, their first date was on the ship belonging to Jason's friend Starfire, unsurprisingly called _The Starfire_. But, y'know, it was their first real date.

"Yeah, me to," Jason said. "But, y'know, at least I got a car out of it."

"Oh, you have to take me driving in the Batmobile, you have, like, zero choice in the matter."

"Deal," Jason said. It probably wasn't a good idea, but he'd do anything for Isabel.

"So, are you, like, a member of the Justice League now?" Isabel asked.

"I...don't know," Jason said. "I'll have to work that out later."

"Sorry for the wait," a waitress said, bringing them their slices on paper plates.

"Thank you," Isabel said, taking a bite of her pineapple pizza.

"But, seriously, enough about me," Jason said. "How are _you_ doing?"

"It wasn't that bad. You got me out of there before I had to do anything _too_ crazy," Isabel said. "I did have to learn how to give a rim job though."

"Well, if you ever need some practice..."

"Nice try," Isabel said playfully tossing a pineapple at Jason.

"So, uh, where are you staying?" Jason asked.

Isabel gave him a look.

"No, seriously, I can take you back to Metropolis tomorrow, but where do you need to go tonight? I could rent you a hotel room or..."

"I can just crash at your place tonight, if that's okay with you," Isabel answered. "Honestly, there is no way in hell in staying anywhere in Gotham by myself after what just happened. And you wondered why I left this damn city."

"Same reason I did, right?" Jason said. "Too much bullshit."

"Right," Isabel said. "Too much bullshit."

* * *

Joker sat on a rooftop, looking out over the city. It would burn soon, but it was nice to look out at every once in a while.

"Joker," a voice came from behind him.

Joker turned around and saw Robin, standing, ready to fight.

"God, didn't I kill you already?!" Joker asked.

"No," Robin said as he walked to the crazed clown, ready for a fight.

"Okay, I give! I surrender!" Joker said as he got on his knees, holding his hands up to be cuffed. "Just watch the teeth, okay? I need it to smile."

Robin reached out to grab the Joker, when an electric charge went through his body.

"Argghhhh!" Robin yelled as he fell to the ground, still awake, but unable to move his body.

"Oh, I get it! You're a new Boy Wonder!" Joker said as he reached down to grab something, revealing it to be a crowbar. "Time for you to be christened."

* * *

Jason and Isabel walked into his apartment.

"Uh, don't mind the mess," Jason said, stepping over an empty pizza box.

The apartment was a fair size, with a living room, a small kitchen, and bedroom and a bathroom.

"If I minded the mess, I'd never have dated you in the first place," Isabel said.

"Har," Jason said, pointing to the bathroom. "You can clean yourself up in there. Make yourself at home, sheets are in the living room, have fun on the couch, I'll be in the bed."

"Thanks," Isabel said.

"Don't mention it," Jason said.

"No, really Jay. Thank you," Isabel said, a serious expression on her face.

"Anytime. And I mean that," Jason said as he walked towards the bedroom. "'Night."

Jason laid down on his bed and closed his eyes, ready to feel his bruises he got in the morning. He heard water going in the background, guessing Isabel was washing up. Maybe he should order room service or something. She might still be hungry. God knows how much she ate when she was trapped in that god forsaken cell.

"Jay?" Jason heard a voice say.

Jason turned around and saw Isabel standing in his doorway, her face cleaned up, and her short blonde hair wet.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked. "Did something...?"

Before he could speak again, Isabel kissed him. Jason ran his hands through her wet hair as he kissed her back.

"Let me thank you," Isabel said as she crawled on top of him. "For real this time."

"You don't have to..." Jason started.

"I know," she said, lightly biting his bottom lip, just like he liked. "But I want to. I _really_ want to."

Isabel kissed Jason on the neck as she started to undo his belt. Jason grabbed Isabel's face and pulled her into a kiss. He could feel her sudden surprise. It was soft and tender, something Jason wasn't really known for. He eased his hands up the back of her shirt, touching her in every place he knew she liked to be touched, earning moans from his blonde partner.

She continued to undo his belt until her hand rested on the erection in his underwear, rubbing over and teasing.

"Oh fuck Is," Jason moaned out as he felt her angelic soft hands on his member. "I want you so bad."

"I know," she simply replied as she continued to fondle his privates.

"Te...tell me what you want and I'll do it, I swear," Jason said. And he meant it. At this point, she could tell him to jump off the roof and he'd probably do it.

She leaned down and put her mouth right next to his ear and whispered in her delicate but firm voice...

"I want you to fuck me Jason."

Before Isabel could blink, Jason had rolled over and threw her on the bed with a small bounce, earning a meep from the beautiful woman. Jason continued to rip off her clothes as she did the same for him. Jason all but ripped her bra off and started sucking on her nipples.

"Oh god Jay," Isabel groaned out, her hands over his head to keep it there. "Don't you _ever_ stop doing that."

Jason eased his hand, slowly and tenderly, down her stomach into her pants, getting a gasp before he started to finger her.

Isabel arched her back to give him a better angle and started shaking her hips to fuck his hand. Right before she completed, he pulled his hand out of her and stopped sucking her nipple. She wanted to smack him.

"Why...why did you...?" she gasped out.

Her talking stopped once Jason stuck his dick inside her, causing her to arch her back sharply and call out. Jason started moving his hips slowly and awkwardly, until he got a stroke going.

"God Isabel, you're still so damn tight..."

"K...keep fucking me Jason," Isabel struggled to get out. "I want you to cum inside me."

Hearing this, Jason's dick went avatar state.

He started moving faster than he ever did before in a jumble of kisses, moans, and scratches.

Eventually, Jason felt himself go, and stopped, falling down on top of Isabel's naked body, not sure where his body ended, and where her's began. She gently bit on his shoulder until he put their foreheads together, breathing each other in. A smile spread across Jason's face as their eyes met, and she returned it.

* * *

Jason woke up in his bed, and smiled as he rolled over on top of Isabel.

Only, Isabel wasn't there.

Jason quickly sat up, worried.

"Is?" Jason called out. "Isabel?"

Jason turned and saw a note on his desk. He picked it up and looked at Isabel's handwriting.

 _Jason,_

 _Thank you for everything. And last night...it was special. I'll always love you Jay, and that won't change. However, what I said before still applies. I don't have training or special gadgets or anything, and it would be too dangerous for us to be together, for both of us. And maybe it's even more dangerous now that you're Batman._

 _I feel bad about sleeping with you, even though I knew what I was going to do, and I'm sorry for leading you on. It was just you saving me, combined with seeing you again, and my already strong feelings for you. I couldn't stop myself, Jason. I needed you. More than you'll ever know._

 _I hope you enjoy being Batman. I hope it turns out well for you, and you finally become happy. I hope you don't get killed. And maybe one day, when there's no Batman or Red Hood, and there's just Jason. Maybe we can be together like we were always meant to._

 _-Isabel_

Jason curled up the letter and threw into the trash can.

"Fuck," he mumbled.

* * *

Damian Wayne, Robin, awoke in a dark room. He tried to move, but his arms were useless. Looking down, he saw his arms and legs bound by chains as he laid on his back on an operating table. He also saw his body littered with bruises, and vaguely remembered Joker hitting him with a crowbar.

"Ah, you're finally awake bird-brain!" The Joker smiled as he stepped out from the shadows. "I was worried I'd killed you. Again."

"It wasn't _me_ you killed, Clown," Robin stated, struggling to break free of his restraints. "That was a _lesser_ Robin. You will not kill _me_."

"Kill you?" Joker said, his smile growing as he pulled out some power tools. "Oh, I'm not gonna kill you."

"I'm just gonna hurt ya...really... _really_... _ **bad.**_ "

* * *

 _If it wasn't for this lemon scene, this chapter would've been out a while ago. Plus, I couldn't update because every time I tried to upload a chapter on my table (like I've been doing for years, or howver long I've been doing this) the document wouldn't save correctly. Now I'm trying something different to upload it. SO, maybe I'll be able to upload on time now._

 _In case you didn't know, this was my first lemon scene I've ever written. It was a struggle to make it...uh...lemony, without making it too ridiculous, which I think I failed at. Every time I read over it, I just felt so embarrassed._

 _But, the show must go on._

 _And I will definitely start updating more. I've been really busy, and I've been planning a comic book to submit to Image Comics, and that's taken up a lot of my time. But I will be putting more focus on this story, I promise._

 _'Till next time._

 _-Brad_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 _Thanks to Red hush (love the name) for following, favoriting, and reviewing. Glad you like it so far._

 _Thanks to TheGuyWithANinjaPsyche for favoriting and following._

* * *

Nightwing walked into the Batcave, surprised to see nobody there.

"Alfred?" he asked aloud. "Damian? Helloooooo?"

Nobody answered.

This was weird. It was night. Someone was always down here at night. Where was Jason?

 _Alright Dick,_ Nightwing thought to himself. _Don't jump to conclusions. Do what Bruce taught you. Analyze the surrounding area and determine the situation._

But looking around, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The computer was fine. The giant penny still stood. Everything seemed...

And then he saw it. It was small. Almost unnoticeable. Nightwing walked to the middle of the floor and picked up the small piece of paper.

A card.

With a clown on it.

Looking down, he saw the card was attached to a small wire, one he pulled when he picked it up.

"Oh shit!" Dick yelled as he ran for the entrance.

Behind him, explosions rang out. He broke one of the first rules Bruce taught him and looked back. He saw the batcomputer explode in a ball of flame, he saw all the suits in their cases explode, along with Jason's memorial. What he doesn't see, however, is the rocks falling from the top of the cave over him...

* * *

Jason Todd sat in his bed, with a bottle of whiskey in hand.

 _She left me,_ Jason thought. _Again._

Let it be said that Jason Todd was not new to rejection. He'd been rejected by Batman when he came back to life (although maybe the whole trying to kill him part didn't help), he'd been rejected by the rest of the bat-family, he'd been rejected by more girls than he could count, which probably explained his addiction to prostitutes, and he'd been rejected is Isabel before, when he thought they were in a good place in their relationship.

But something about _this_ one, just hurt him so bad. Maybe it was because it came without warning, she just up and left. Maybe it was because he had no intention of sleeping with her, or trying to rekindle their relationship. _She_ came to _him_. But he didn't know how he would bounce back emotionally from this. Maybe he'd end up like Bruce, a sad hull of a man who wouldn't let anyone in, even the people he loved...

 _Bing!_

Jason's phone made a sound, letting him know he had a notification. He rushed over to the phone and picked it up. Maybe I was Isabel, telling him that she made a mistake, that she changed her mind and...

No. It was from Golden Boy. He sounded like his mouth was being covered by something...?

 _What the hell?_ Jason pondered.

 _"_ _ **Cough!**_ _Night...Nightwing to Batfamily. I'm...trapped in the Batcave. Need immediate assistance. It's..."_

Jason jumped out of the window of his apartment and traveled across the rooftops, secret identity be damned, the last words of Dick Grayson"s message ringing in his ears.

 _"It's the Joker."_

* * *

"Dick!" Barbara Gordon in her Batgirl costume called as she pulled up to the crumbled remains of the Batcave on her motorcycle. Where the large entrance to the cave once sat, was now just a jungle of fallen rocks, leaving no way to get inside.

"Barbara!" Jason called out as he ran towards her, with Red Robin not far behind.

"Help pull these rocks out!" Batgirl yelled as she started to tear through the rocks blocking her path.

"Barbara..." Jason started.

"Why are you just standing there?!"

"Barbara..."

"Help me!"

"Barbara!" Tim yelled, grabbing her arm. "Barb, you're smart. Smarter than all of us (well, except me), do you really think Bruce wouldn't have something planned for a situation like this?"

"I..." Batgirl started.

"Batcave," Red Robin said into his wrist. "Task: Excavation. Authorization: Red Robin, 7589703."

As he said that, the rocks filling the Cave started to be pushed out by some pre-programmed mechanism. Of course, there was the chance that Nightwing might be crushed by the moving rocks, but he knew this was what they would most likely do, and would've prepared for it.

"I'm an idiot," Batgirl said.

"You're not," Jason responded.

"I let my emotions get the best of me, instead of using my head. That's something I promised myself I'd never do again."

"Wow. I can't believe you're opening yourself up to me like this."

"Ugh, I know. Today is just not my day."

"Bad hair day?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing."

All the rubble in the Batcave finally piled outside. And under the rubble, was the crumbled form of Nighttwing.

"Dick!" Barbara yelled as she ran to his side, with Jason and Tim following right behind her.

"F...fine," Nightwing mumbled out, although he looked anything but fine. "Suit took up...a lot of it...protected my head..."

"I'll take him to the hospital" Jason quickly said, but received a head shake from Barbara.

"I'll get there faster on my bike. You two go after Joker," Batgirl said, picking Dick up and carrying him to her batcycle. "I'll stash his costume somewhere and get him medical attention.

"N..no," Dick said, trying to break free of Barbara's grasp. "I need...to help. I'm..."

"Dick Grayson you are as stubborn as your father!" Barbara said. "You are going to the hospital if I have to knock you unconscious to do it!"

"...fine."

And with that, Batgirl drove off, with Nightwing.

"So...any ideas how to find Joker?" Jason asked.

"I don't know, you're Batman."

"I'm Batman," Jason repeated. "That was a terrible idea."

"Definitely," Tim agreed. "But you wear the cowl (or helmet, whichever), so you're in charge. What's our move, Batman?"

"...," Jason thought, trying to think what Bruce would do in this situation. "Check police traffic, see if anyone has reported the Joker's whereabouts. I'll be on the ground, looking for clues. Knowing Joker, he's left a clue _somewhere._ A setup to the punchline. And get ahold of Damien if you can."

"...got it," Tim said before smiling. "Heh. You sound like Bruce already. Don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

And with that, they both got in their respective vehicles and ran off into the city.

"Alfred, you there?" Jason asked into his helmet as the batmobile raced through Gotham.

 _"As always, Master Todd."_ the voice of Alfred came through, and Jason made a mental note that he called him "Master Todd" again, but now was not the place to bring it up. _"I'm holed up in one of Master Bruce's spare batcaves. I must say, if only Master Bruce kept his room this clean, my job would've been a lot easier."_

Jason could swear he heard a twinge of pain in Alfred's voice as he mentioned Bruce, but again, not the time.

"I need you to check backup footage of the batcave right before the explosion. See how the Joker got in there, when, and how he set up that bomb without any of Bruce's countermeasures going off.

 _"Will do, sir."_ Alfred responded. _"Oh, and sir?"_

"Hm?"

 _"There is a squirmish near your location."_

"This is Gotham, Alfred. There's always a 'squirmish' somewhere."

 _"Yes, but this one includes a masked vigilante. One Master Bruce doesn't have in his records."_

"Well, that certainly sounds interesting. Maybe it has something to do with Damian. Mark it, Alfred."

 _"Yes, sir."_

* * *

Spoiler was shaking in her boots.

She was in a fight. Oh God, she was in a _fight._

And this wasn't some...some high school girl fight with slapping. No, this had knives, and...and bats and...is that a gun?!

She slapped the pistol with her metal staff, while in the same motion, swiping across the man's face with her purple cape. She had seen Batman use this move a couple times in the few times he had been caught on camera. And most of that was when he was with the Justice League. When he was alone, he was like a phantom. Or something darker.

"Shit, I can't see!" the crook said right before he swift kick in the groin took him out.

 _Ohh, I actually beat one!_ Spoiler thought to herself.

Then she noticed there were four other guys around her.

 _Well, shit._

"Mind if I cut in?" a voice came out.

Spoiler turned and saw...the freakin' Batman standing a few feet away from her! I mean, she was pretty sure it was Batman. Where was the cowl? The cape? Was he going for a new look? But there was no mistake it...

This was Batman.

"B...by all means," Spoiler stuttered out, trying to be cool and keep up banter.

"Shit, I didn't know Batman would be here!" one crook said.

"That ain't no Batman! You see 'im?" a girl crook said. "He's just a pretender."

"Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this," Batman said, cracking his knuckles.

And with that, Batman rushed out at the crooks. Surprised by his speed, Spoiler figured she'd probably better do that too.

She lunged at a guy and swiped at his head with a kick, causing the crook to easily dodge it. She then spun in the air (pretty clumsily) and hit in the face with her staff, probably breaking his nose.

"You suck at fighting," she heard. She turned around, and Batman had already taken out the rest, albeit with more force than was probably necessary.

"Um, aren't you supposed to be all mysterious and cool? Batman doesn't say 'suck'."

"Under normal circumstances, probably not," Batman responded. "But you _really_ suck at fighting."

"I took out two of them."

"You got lucky. 'There are no victories, only accomplishments.'"

"And who told you that? Your sensei or something?"

"Something like that."

"...oh shit, you're Batman!" Spoiler finally yelled out.

"Yeah."

"I'm talking to Batman."

"You are."

"Oh man, I'm totally acting unprofessional right now."

"You totally are."

"Is...is that the batmobile?" Spoiler said, trying and badly failing trying to seem professional and collected.

"Go for it."

Spoiler quickly walked (well, she ran, but she was telling herself she was walking) to the batmobile and touched it.

"It's so...cold," she said. "Oh man, Harper is gonna be so jealous."

"Can I ask what you're doing?" Batman asked.

"You...you said I could...," Spoiler said like a hurt puppy.

"I'm talking about the dressing up. The costume."

"Oh...oh! I'm supposed to be questioning those guys!"

"About?"

"I..uh, can't tell you. Yet."

"You're keeping a secret from Batman?"

"Uh, yes."

"Okay then. And how are you going to question them?"

"With intimidation!"

"Pfft!"

"Batman isn't supposed to laugh either." Spoiler said, a little annoyed.

Before Batman could respond, a loud static ran through the city, followed by voice.

" _Helllo? Is this thing on?"_

Batman and Spoiler looked at a television store across the street with a monitor display. On all the screens? The Joker.

Jason couldn't tell where he was, but it looked like some warehouse.

" _Hellooo, my fellow Gothamites! I'll be your host for the evening! In case you didn't know, I'm called The Clown Prince of Crime, the only apple in Batman's eye, The Joker!"_

"Penny-one, I need a location. Now," Batman said into his earpiece.

" _If you're wondering why I'm here talking to you on this grand evening, it's because I have a message for the Batman."_

The Joker closed up on the screen and gave his creepiest smile.

" _You shouldn't play with emotions, Bats,"_ Joker said. _"I thought you were dead. Ahaha. That was probably some fake. An impostor! As if some petty street thug could get one over on the Batman! Oh Bats, you just drive me wild!"_

Then the Joker dropped his smile, and looked at the camera with a dead serious expression.

" _You_ _ **really**_ _shouldn't lead me on, Bats."_

A second later he was back to his creepy smile.

" _I mean, sure we can laugh about it now, but you had me worried there! But you know the saying Bats: an eye for an eye. Or in your case…,"_

Joker reached off the screen and pulled out an unconscious and tied up Robin.

"Penny-one, I need a location, now!"

" _...my emotions, for your brat. Y'know, it always struck me as crazy that you brought out another birdbrain, after I did such a good job getting rid of your old one. You know the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. And they call_ _ **me**_ _crazy! Ahahaha!"_

The Joker started digging around off the screen. _"So how should I do it this time, Bats?"_ he pulled out a crowbar. _"Throwback?"_

"Alfred, tell me where is he now! Please!"

" _Well Bats, I just don't know what we're going to do about birdbrain here. I guess you'll just have to get here to find out. And you'd better hurry. You know what happened the last time you were a little slow to help your dashing partner. Harley's been so jealous, that I got to kill one of your little helpers and she didn't. Oh, I'm so proud!"_

"Alfred!"

 _Smack!_

"Calm down!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Batman asked Spoiler, who had just slapped him. It didn't hurt, as he had on his helmet, but it surprised him.

"You're Batman. You can't freak out, because you're supposed to keep us from freaking out. Now calm down, and get out there and beat the shit out of that guy."

".…Alfred, how are we on a location?"

"It's ACE Chemicals," Spoiler said. "It's an employees room in the back where they put on all their protective gear. My dad used to work there, before…"

 _Bruce would have known that,_ Jason thought.

"Thanks," Batman said, rushing over to the batmobile. Without saying anything, he got in and sped off.

Spoiler stood there for a minute before realization set in.

"I just slapped Batman," she said. "I am so badass."

* * *

Jason sped through the streets of Gotham, the batmobile weaving itself through traffic lanes. It crossed Jason's mind that if Bruce ever sold half the stuff he made for Batman, he'd have been rich. Well, richer. But his mind quickly left that.

Damian. The Joker had Damian. This must have been how Bruce felt on….that day. Being on the other side of it, Jason had to say it was just as bad. The car couldn't go fast enough, his blood couldn't pump enough, his mind couldn't think ahead enough. He gradually became aware of messages popping up on his dashboard, but he ignored them. There was only Damian.

And The Joker.

 _Arriving at ACE Chemicals,_ the voice of the batmobile came out. Jason ignored it.

He ran into the large building, all but abandoned and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Joker!"

"Is that you, B-man?" a voice rang out, and above Jason, standing on a platform next to a like full-body sweatpants. Really impracticable.

"Harley!" Batman yelled at the top of his lungs. "Where's Robin?!"

Harley looked a little taken aback by his outburst, but quickly composed herself.

"H..hey now, no need gettin' impatient, B-man! There are steps to this type of thing!"

Batman took out an extra sharp batarang and had it ready to throw.

"Okay, okay! Jeez!" Harley said as she pushed a nearby button that Jason couldn't see. As she did, Robin fell out of the ceiling, and hung by a rope around his feet, over a vat of chemicals.

"Robin!"

"Slow down, B-man! Mr. J had some demands for you! In exchange for birdbrain over here, you had to…"

 _Boom!_

"What the hell?!" Harley yelled out in surprised as the facility started exploding around them.

Vats of chemicals and the lights and the walls around them started violently exploding, causing the very foundation of the plant to shake. Harley was looking around like a deer in a strobe-light. This obviously wasn't part of the plan.

Jason took the distraction as his chance to pull out his grappling hook. It took him a little longer to aim with the explosions going off around him, but he managed to get a hook around a beam and pull himself into the air.

Soon, he was inches away from Damian's feet, reaching out. He had made it. He had saved….

 _Boom._

Jason heard a deafening sound, he felt himself fly thought the air, and he felt a thud and a harsh pain.

He woke and saw himself on the ground outside the facility. The explosion must've thrown him out of a window. Luckily, it seemed like his suit took up most of the damage.

Damian.

He quickly got up and made his way towards the facility. Before another large explision rang out that sent Jason flying back once again with its force. The whole facilyt started to crumble.

 _No…_

He ran. He ran towards the facility even though he knew it wouldn't work. He had studied distances under Bruce. He had studied the structural weakness of every building in Gotham. He knew how fast he ran.

But he still ran.

And when the building collapsed on itself, when Jason Todd fell to his knees, he guesses he might have screamed. But he knew he cried. For a while, all you could hear were his sobs that filled the night air.

Then he heard coughs and mumbling.

"Wasn't part of the plan…wasn't supposed to…"

Jason looked over and saw the charred figure of Harley Quinn laying a few yards away from him. He slowly got up and trudged over to her. He stood over her. Even though her mostly red suit was now a burnt black, and a few holes were burned out, Jason could see her white skin. She wasn't burned at all. It was close. She _could_ have died, but she didn't.

And Damian did.

Jason grabbed Harley by the collar and hoisted her into the air, not even trying to hide the anger that was seeping so high below the surface that told him to strangle her right now.

"Quinn," he said. "Where. Is. He?!"

"Wasn't part of the plan…I didn't mean it.." she rambled on, seemingly not even aware of what was happening.

"Quinn!"

"Wasn't part of the…"

"Harleen!" Jason said as he took off his helmet, definitely getting Harley Quinn's attention.

"You..you're really not B-Man are you?"

"No," Jason said. "I'm not."

Jason put Harley down and looked at her seriously.

"Harleen, you're a goddamn psychiatrist. You're fucking trained to deal with crazy people. You know the symptoms. Can't you tell what you're doing is crazy? Can't you tell Joker is using you?! That he doesn't love you?!"

"No, he does love me. He.."

"Then why did he leave you here to die, Harleen?!"

"Stop callin' me that! You don't know what you're talking about…!"

"He doesn't love you! And he never has!"

"You don't know!"

"What has he ever done for you, Harleen? Has he even _told_ you he loved you? Ever?"

".…he loves me."

"No he doesn't. You're fucking crazy."

".…."

"Where is he Harleen?"

"He's at a warehouse. The one where you…where B-Man died."

 _Of course that's where he is._ _Bruce would have figured that out instantly,_ Jason thought, then sulked. _He would've saved Damian too._

Jason walked away from Harley, leaving her there and started making his way over to the batmobile.

"I didn't know…" Harley said behind him.

"What?" Jason stopped, but didn't turn around.

"I didn't know he was gonna kill the kid. He said to let you save him, then lead you to him. To the next clue. I didn't mean for…"

"Stop talking."

Jason continued to walk to his car. It was time for him to see the Joker.

It was time for him to see the man who killed him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 _I honestly didn't care for last chapter. I honestly think it might've been my weakest chapter so far in this story. Which sucks, because Damian died and it should've been the greatest chapter I've ever written. I think I was kinda just trying to get the chapter out and rushed it. I'm just so buys with so many things right now that it's kinda hard to find the time to write, but I am seriously trying. With that in mind, it's announcement time:_

 _After this arc, I'm taking a small break from this series. It won't last forever, just until I'm in a place that I can get these chapters out in a better quality and on time. This might be one of my best written series so far and I really want it to be good. I know I'm only on the sixth chapter so this is really soon to be taking a break, but there it is. And I will be back don't worry. The way I end this arc…there will be more chapters, I promise (unless I suddenly died or something)._

 _Anyway, thanks to filliis for reviewing. Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying this._

 _Thanks to septarsenior for reviewing. Yeah, the lemon was me really just trying something new as I had never done one before (it was actually really akward to write) and I've noticed some other people mentioning that it wasn't the best. Lemons are something that will probably happen again (hopefully they'll be better as I do more) but they won't be frequent. I don't want this story to end up being a softcore porn thing._

 _And thanks to fan girl 666 for reviewing. Yeah, I'm glad you enjoyed my nerdy Easter eggs I've sprinkled around here and there. As for what happen next, well here we are._

* * *

Jason sat across the street on a nearby rooftop, looking at the warehouse.

 _So this is where Bruce died….,_ Jason thought, looking at the rundown warehouse which was on the verge of falling apart. _Even Bruce deserved better than this._

So did Damian. It dawned on him that the last member of the Wayne family died tonight, bringing an end to the philanthropic billionaires. This would probably have an effect on Gotham City in the months and even years to come. But none of that mattered.

The Joker was gonna die tonight.

He had already decided. He was never meant to be Batman. It was never going to work. He would kill Joker then disappear. Maybe start up the Outlaws again. He wondered what Roy and Kori were up to. Maybe he could use the Batmobile to get out of Gotham. No, they could track it. Maybe…

"So you made the same conclusion I made, huh?" a voice came up behind him.

 _Goddammit. God fucking dammit!_

Jason turned around to see Batgirl landing behind him.

"I figured this would be the one place in Gotham Joker could be," she said as she knelled beside him. "Where's Damian? Recuperating in the Batcave?"

"Stop talking."

"What's your….oh God. Jason, is he…?"

Jason lowered his head. He didn't want to think about this. He couldn't.

"Poor Damian…," Batgirl said under her breath. "Where's his body?"

"There isn't one."

"God….," Batgirl said. "So, what's the plan?"

"The plan is you get the hell out of here," Jason said. "This is between me and him."

"If you think I'm going to just walk away after what he did to Damian…"

"I'm not asking you to walk away," Jason said. "I'm telling you."

"You're 'telling' me? You can't tell me to do shit. You're not Bruce."

"I know that."

"Glad we agree on something," Batgirl said. "So I'm staying. Besides, I have to make sure you don't do anything you'll regret."

"I promise you, I won't."

"Hm," Batgirl shook her head. "So how do you wanna handle this? Stealthy, charge in, what?"

"There's nobody else here."

"What?"

"There's nobody else in the area," Jason explained. "No guards, no enforcers, no villains, he's just sitting there in the middle of the warehouse with that big damn smile on his face."

"How long have you been here?"

"Long enough," Jason said. "I keep…I'm waiting on him to do something. Anything. But he just…sits there. Smiling."

"This is the Joker we're talking about," Batgirl said. "He probably has some trap set up. Some kind of plan."

"You think I don't know that?"

"Then we go in through the front door," said Batgirl, ignoring that remark.

"What?"

"Joker loves theatrics. If we go in through some other entry, he'll have something there waiting. If we go through the front…"

Batman jumped from the roof and expanded his wings, gliding into the front door, not waiting for Batgirl to finish. As he walked into the warehouse, he noticed different things. The first thing he noticed was the barren shape of the warehouse. There was literally nothing there, other than the Joker sitting in the middle of the room. The second thing he noticed was the smell. It smelled….nice. Like the place had been set up for some event or party. And lastly, the Joker was sitting there in the middle of the warehouse at a table with a chair across from it.

"Ah, Batsy! So nice of you to join the party!" The Joker said, motioning for Batman to sit down at the table across from him.

Jason was ready to tackle him right this moment. But he sat. The Joker was going to die tonight. Might as well see what his final joke was.

"Batman!" the voice of Batgirl rang out as Batman turned to see he gliding towards the door. Before she could come through, the doors slammed shut.

"Nah ah ah," Joker said. "Two's company."

The Joker reached under the table and Jason grabbed a batarang from his belt, before Joker sat back up, draping a pink curtain over the table, then taking out a large cake and placing it on top. The cake….was blank. Just white frosting.

"A cake?" Batman asked.

"Don't you worry about it Bats, I didn't steal it," said the Joker as he took a small knife from his pocket and started cutting the cake. "The tip I gave the waitress was killer!"

Batman grimaced.

"What's the cake for?" Batman asked.

"For celebrating, of course!" Joker exclaimed. "I've finally won!"

"What?"

"I mean, you're going to kill me right?" Joker said. Batman didn't respond. For once, Joker stopped smiling. "I'm insane, not crazy. You're not the real Batman."

Jason cringed hearing The Joker say what he had been thinking to himself all along.

"No no no, he's dead. And you…well, you're definitely not as funny as him, but you have been entertaining at least. You're a lot less….reserved than he was. Making a deal with Black Mask to save some random woman, now that was surprising! Who knows what he'll have you do!"

"You said that you finally won," Jason interrupted, not wanting to hear anymore. "What did you mean?"

"You sure you don't want any of this cake, old sport?"

"No."

"No, as in you're not sure, or no as in…"

"No."

"Hm, well you certainly have the same disposition," Joker shrugged as he continued to eat his cake. "What I meant to say was, the last Batman, the real one, he was incorruptible to the end, and I loved him for it. After all was said and done, I never broke him, not how I wanted to at least. I never got him to take a life. To kill me. I think that's what upset me the most about his passing. The joke was over, before it ever got to the punchline. But you on the other hand…ahahaha…"

Joker leaned in just a few inches from Batman's face. "…you're corruptible."

Joker leaned back in his seat. "Or, at least, you already are. So, it won't be as fun as if _he_ had done it, but getting someone he trusted with his mantle to do it, well maybe I'll be able to die in peace."

"And if I don't kill you?"

"Then I'll kill them all."

"Who?"

"All of them. All of Batman's little distractions. First, I'll kill that girl you were so stressed out about. Isabel was it? Then, I'll kill that Dick Grayson fellow. Assuming you're not him, but I don't think you are. Then I'll kill Commissioner Gordon and his little bat-daughter too."

"You…how did…?"

 _"Really?_ _"_ Joker asked, chuckling. "I shot that little red-headed girl in the spine and Batgirl disappears. Batgirly comes back, and the Commissioner's daughter makes a miraculous recovery and walks again. What do you think I am, crazy?!"

Batman sat there for a moment. Then, he reached up to his helmet.

"Before I do this," Batman said as he began to lift the red helmet from his head. "I want you to see something."

Jason placed the hood on the table to the side of him, and looked the Joker in the eye.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Um…no," Joker said. "Should I?"

"You bastard…"

"Let me guess, you're someone I wronged, or I killed your parents or something…"

"You killed me, you bastard!" Jason yelled. "You killed me!"

The Joker looked again Jason's face but still came up with nothing.

"You'll have to be more specific deary, I've killed a lot of people."

"I'm Robin!" Jason said. "I'm the Robin you killed!"

"Which one?"

Jason punched The Joker in the face, sending him flying across the room.

"Allow me," Jason said as he pulled something from his belt, revealing a crowbar. "To refresh your memory."

"Ah!" Joker smiled. "You're that boy who stole my old name! You tried to kill Batman once! And he let _you_ be the new Batman?!"

 **"Shut up!"**

Jason began to beat Joker with the crowbar repeatedly. The Joker made no sounds, not even a grunt. He just…kept laughing.

 **"Stop laughing!"** Jason demanded as he continued to clobber Joker with the crowbar.

Eventually he stopped. He stood over Joker, who was on all but dead, coughing on his own blood. But under his breathe he still chuckled.

"D..do it," Joker said, coughing. "Finish me."

Jason picked Joker by his collar and aimed his wrist at him as a tiny bullet canister came up. He had lied to Alfred. He had put a few real bullets in there.

"My my," Joker said. "You really are a different Batman aren't you? Heh heh heh heh…"

There was an explosion, as the doors to the warehouse flew off their hinges and a voice rang out.

"Batman!" Batgirl said as she ran inside. "Are you…?"

"Dammit, these brats ruin everything!" Joker exclaimed in anger.

"Jason, what've you done?"

"Doing what he never could," Jason said. "He knows who we are, Barbara. You, Dick, Tim, he's always known."

"He won't tell anybody Jason," Barbara calmly said as she slowly made her way over to Jason. "He hasn't told any…"

"Oh, I will," Joker stated bluntly. "After I kill you all, that is."

"And if he tells, we'll deal with it. You can't..you can't let him win.."

"Don't listen to her Jason ol' buddy ol' pal," Joker said. "You know better than everyone that I'm as good as my word. So how about you kill me and you can all go home, eh?"

"Jason, you…you can't kill him. You won't," Barbara said. "You're Batman now. Bruce trusted you to be better than you were before. He trusted you to be the symbol, the hero Gotham…"

 _BLAM!_

"Sorry to have to break it to you, Barbie," Jason said as The Joke's body slumped to the floor, blood pouring form the top of his head. "But I'm not a hero."

"You bastard!" Batgirl yelled as she slammed Jason punched Jason in the nose, no doubt breaking it, and slamming him into the wall. "You killed him with the bat on your chest!"

Jason didn't fight back as Batgirl delivered numerous punches to his unprotected face.

"We trusted you! Bruce trusted you!"

"And where did that get anyone, Barbie?" Jason asked. "Where did that get Damian?"

"Don't call me that!" Batgirl yelled.

Jason grabbed Batgirl's hand, stopping the flurry of unfocused punches.

"How's your spine?"

"What?"

"Does it still have a scar?"

"What're you..?"

"Barbara, are you telling me that after everything he's done, to us, to Bruce, that you've never thought about killing him?"

"Thinking about something and actually doing it are two completely different things."

"I know. And I'm not saying that I'm right or you're wrong. I'm saying that it's over. It's done. I'm going to walk out of here, and I'm going to leave Gotham forever. Tell Dick and Tim whatever you want. I'll never bother you again."

Jason moved her aside and began to walk towards the door, making sure to step on Joker's smiling corpse as he does.

"...wait," Barbara said.

"I won't let you arrest me, Barbara."

"You're not running away."

"What?"

"You're going to stay here, and you're going to be Batman, and you're going to never do something like this again."

"Wow. You're crazier than the Joke if you think…"

"We'll keep this between us, for now. We'll say he took his own life once he found out you weren't Bruce," Barbara walked by Jason towards the door. "But just know, I will be watching you like a hawk. If you ever kill anyone again, I don't care who, or if you ever cross a line, I will take you down _hard_. And I'll be sure to damage you beyond repair."

Batgirl walked towards the door and turned around toward Jason.

"See you in the Cave, Jason."

And with that, she pulled out her grappling hook and zipped away. Jason just stood there.

He had a lot to think about.

* * *

"Whoa. This is…this is incredible," Spoiler said as she walked around the Batcave, taking in all the sights. She seemed particularly fixed on the giant penny.

"Welcome to the Batcave, Spoiler." Batman said as he walked out, dressed in his full costume.

"Thanks but…why am I here?" Spoiler asked.

Batman motioned for her to follow him as he walked deeper into the Cave.

"Let's just put all our cards on the table, Stephanie."

"Wh..what? How did you…?!"

"I'm Batman," Batman said, turning to her. "I knew you were the second you touched the Batmobile."

"But my gloves…" She started before meeting his eyes. "Right. You're Batman."

"Just to make everything fair though," Batman said as he reached for his helmet.

"Oh my god, what're you…?" she started before Batman took off his mask revealing a man with black hair and greenish-blue eyes.

"My name is Jason Todd," the man said. "And I…I'm Batman."

"Oh oh man…, this is too much," Stephanie said. "M..my friend Harper is huge Batman fan-girl and we made a bet and she said she was sure he was Bruce Wayne and now she owes me twenty bucks but I can't get the money because that'd be telling and.."

"Stephanie, slow down," Jason said, shaking his head. This would be harder than he thought. "You know that you can never tell anyone this secret, right?"

"Y..yeah, of course," Stephanie said, meaning it. "I know that much."

"Here's something you didn't know," Jason said. "I only became Batman recently. Bruce Wayne has been Batman since the beginning."

"Ahhhhhh, wait does that mean I owe Harper twenty dollars, or does she owe…do we owe each other…?"

"Will you forget about your bet?!"

"Right. Sorry, sir. Mr. Batman-sir."

"Don't call me sir."

"Alright, Mr. -"

"Just call me Jason for God's sake."

"Right. Sorry, I'm, uh, normally not like this, but I'm really freaking out with this huge influx of information and…."

"I understand that," Jason said. "I was similar when I found out."

Jason and Stephanie walked into a hall with many cases holding different suits. Two of them were Robin costumes, one bigger than the other, and one was the classic black and gray Batman costume.

"This…is a memorial," Jason said. "This is where we honor the members of the family who..who aren't here anymore."

She looked at the Robin costume that was smaller than the other one. This looked like it belonged to kid younger than her. Jason motioned for her to walk over to the bigger Robin memorial.

"This one…is mine," Jason said.

"What?" Stephanie asked, confused.

"I was Robin. The second one. And…I…I didn't make it. I died."

"You..?"

"But I came back. I came back as someone I'm not entirely proud of…"

Jason looked at the Batman costume in the memorial.

"And when Batman…when Bruce died, he trusted the Batman legacy…the mantle to me. I'll never understand why. But he did. But…because of what happened to me when I was Robin…I didn't want to take that chance. I didn't want it to be my fault if another kid ever died."

Jason looked over to the smaller Robin case, tears welling up in his eyes.

"But…I failed. And I keep thinking, maybe if I was there, maybe if I didn't push him away so that I could feel secure, maybe he'd still be here. That…that will haunt me until I die. Again."

Jason finally turns to Stephanie.

"And then I see you in the streets, beating up street thugs, not knowing what you were in for. Not knowing the true horrors of humanity, of Gotham. And I think..I hope that if I help you the way I should've helped Damian, then maybe..maybe I'll be able to redeem myself."

"What…what are you saying?" Stephanie asked.

"Stephanie…"

Stephanie stood directly in front of the Robin memorial where she could see her reflection in the case, as the Robin uniform appeared to be over her current clothes.

"I have an offer for you."


End file.
